casemate

American  

[keys-meyt] / ˈkeɪsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. an armored enclosure for guns in a warship.

2. a vault or chamber, especially in a rampart, with embrasures for artillery.

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casemate British  

/ ˈkeɪsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. an armoured compartment in a ship or fortification in which guns are mounted

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Other Word Forms

• casemated adjective
• uncasemated adjective

Etymology

Origin of casemate

1565–75; < Middle French < Old Italian casamatta, alteration (by folk etymology) of Greek chásmata embrasures, literally, openings, plural of chásma chasm

Example Sentences

The three large sections of the Georgia's armored casemate, however, proved too heavy to raise without cutting them down into smaller pieces.

From US News • Aug. 16, 2015

In the middle was a trapezoid- shaped casemate with slats on each side for cannons.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

Of course, my jailers knew this before I was placed in the casemate.

From Latitude 19 degree A Romance of the West Indies in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty by Crowninshield, Mrs. Schuyler

They are redoubts of simple form intended for 350 or 400 men, with casemate accommodation for three-fourths of that number.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

Even as the midshipman spoke there came a peculiar screech that sounded almost above the armoured roof of the casemate.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)